Working Principle: The FESEM in contrary to convention scanning electron microscopy (SEM), produces clearer, less electrostatically distorted images with high spatial resolution down to 1 nanometre. The field-emission cathode in the electron gun of the instrument provides narrower probing beams at low as well as high electron energy, resulting in both improved spatial resolution and minimized sample charging and damage though the detectors viz. in-lens SE (in-lens secondary) , SE (secondary electron) and BS backscatter electron) detectors.

Applications: The instrument gives morphological and topographical as well as elemental information of a wide variety of samples (material, biological, chemical etc.) at magnifications of 10X to 300,000X.